


keep all our promises (us against the world)

by orphan_account



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Angst, Basically all the baggage Matt/Elektra comes with, F/F, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Genderswap, Lesbian Character, Lovers To Enemies, Pining, gay epiphanies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 18:49:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5509076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maddie and Elektra fall in love, fall apart, and meet again irreparably changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	keep all our promises (us against the world)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gay and the title is from a Katy Perry song. You know, that one about 'The One that Got Away." Feel free to judge me so hard right now. I am kinkshaming myself.
> 
> No warnings for content right now really. I'm not out to hurt you. . .this chapter.

The smell of her fresh coffee (purified water, freshly ground hazelnut roasted Arabica beans) is all that’s keeping Maddie from passing out at seven-thirty AM on a Tuesday morning. Columbia’s quad is dead silent that morning save for a few other masochistic stragglers trudging towards their lecture halls. Their feet drag on the ground with soft scraping noises as though willing their owners to just stand still and fall asleep on the spot. Some of them don’t have coffee in their hands or on their breaths. Those poor bastards.

She manages to get inside the right building that morning, thank god, but not the right classroom. No, Spanish is actually the room next door to where she’s currently seated. This is a fact she doesn’t realize until the class next door begins to take roll.

“Maddie Murdock?” she hears through the wall. Maddie grabs her backpack and her cane and hightails it out of the room.

“I’m Maddie Murdock!” she says, halfway into the door. Every head in the room turns to look at her. At that moment, she realizes that maybe she could have made sure she wouldn’t be dropped from the class in a less conspicuous way. Her face goes hot as she drops into a seat at the back of the room. Way to draw more attention to the blind girl, Maddie. 

“Ok, good,” says the teacher. She flicks a check mark onto a piece of paper. “Elektra Natchios?”

“Here,” lilts a melodic, slightly accented voice, and time stands still. Something unexpected bursts in Maddie’s chest and floods her body, bright and hot. She has the most striking voice that Maddie has ever heard. Elektra. Elektra Natchios. 

Maddie turns her head in the vague direction of the woman and, well. . .’checks her out’ isn’t exactly the right terminology. For one thing, it suggests something much less. . .invasive than Maddie’s regular inspection. Heartbeat (light and slow like a compact athlete). Smells (expensive, flowery perfume daubed behind the ears, apples on her breath, dry shampoo). The way air currents shift around somebody (perfect posture, economy of movement). Heat radiating off of her body (it’s August and she’s hot like everyone else). 

‘Checking her out’ also seems to imply (incorrectly) that Maddie is attracted to women. Her short hair and androgynous style has inspired a lot of ‘lesbians’ and ‘dykes’ thrown her way that were answered with a punch to the face. She’s not like that. No, this is a routine assessment of the physical qualities of a striking human being. Elektra is captivating like many people are captivating. Elektra. . .

The teacher pulls Maddie out of her reverie by instructing them on how to introduce themselves. Hola, soy (name). One by one the students say their own names. Elektra is in the row next to her, just ahead in the line. 'Hola, soy Elektra,' she says in that beautiful voice, and Maddie is so entranced that when it’s her turn she nearly forgets her own name.

“Hola, soy Maddie,” she says in a crude American accent. Not impressive at all. 

“Bueno,” says the teacher, a repetition of the response she’s giving every other student. When they are finished, she flips a page in her notebook at the front. “Alright. I’m pairing you off for the semester with another student. You will do projects and presentations with this person. I also recommend that you study Spanish outside of class with them as much as you can. This class can be very fast paced, and speaking the language with someone else is the best way to become familiar with it. Ok, James Alberta with Robert Alexa. . .”

Maddie realizes her fate before the teacher calls her name. The partnering is alphabetical. Murdock and Natchios. She’s partnered with Elektra. She’s going to be speaking Spanish every day with Elektra. She’s going to be doing projects with Elektra.

“. . .your first assignment is to practice the greetings with your partner that I have posted online. I will be quizzing you on them on Thursday. Class dismissed.”

Maddie stands up, and throws her backpack over her shoulders. She grabs her cane, and then contemplates her options as to how she should greet Elektra. It’s very clear to Maddie where Elektra is in the room, but she’s not exactly supposed to know. Waving her cane in the air and shouting her name sounds almost worse than blowing her cover. Thankfully, Elektra is the one to close the gap. She walks over to Maddie with long, graceful strides. Elektra is taller than she is by at least three inches, and it makes Maddie feel small and nervous in a way she never has before. When she senses that Elektra is near, she holds out her right hand to shake, praying that it’s not clammy.

“Hola,” says Elektra in  _ that voice _ , shaking Maddie’s hand with a firm grip. Her heartbeat is faster than earlier, and her body temperature is raised. She must be shy.

“Hola,” Maddie responds. She holds the handshake for much longer than necessary, but Elektra doesn’t seem to mind, doesn’t even loosen her grip. “Pleased to meet you,” she says after she finally lets go.

“The pleasure is all mine,” says Elektra. 

Maddie doesn’t refute it, even though at this juncture this seems impossible. Instead, she smiles at Elektra and says, “I’m free Mondays and Wednesdays from five until seven. How about you?”


End file.
